Monthly Archives: May 2010

Last Weekend was the Stitches and Craft show and on Sunday I went along with my brand new housemate of win. She is also a crafty type and indeed I met her through the knitting group on Monday nights in Richmond!

The show was a bit less crowded than the last time i went – it seemed there were fewer stalls and vendors, but i did REALLY like the crafting stations they had set up and i wish we’d had a bit more time to make some things and try out new crafts. I would very much have liked to try out the paper craft station as this is something that’s always fascinated me but i’m not silly enough to get into. (not that i think scrapbooking and paper craft is silly, it’s just that i already do a bajillion things – the same reason starting to quilt would point towards severe insanity)

I have a self-imposed yarn embargo on at the moment – No yarn purchases for the month of may. As you smart chooks will realise, last week was may. so what to do? well I made a deal with myself. I had one day off for Stitches and Craft, in return for a further week into June. So no yarn until June 8th. I don’t know why this is such a hard thing to do. It’s not like i don’t have about 4 years worth of projects ready to go in my home!

But I couldn’t resist Pear Tree yarn on sale. We had a lovely discussion about work and the store being a stockist and i let the ladies know i’m knitting Fay in the 4ply supersoft (which most certainly is!). Having access to the yarn through work, I did of course limit my purchases to the sale stock – their old merino range in a discontinued colour called Sky – a lovely soft blue which apparently matches my eyes. It’s a 12 ply and I’m thinking i might do Rosamund’s cardigan in it. I also picked up a skein of a mixed 4 ply which is grey, cream and softest pink – I’m planning to weave something with it but need to find a complimentary yarn.

The next place i could not walk past was One Fat Slug- a yarn dyer i had heard about on the grapevine with a totally unforgettable name. I instantly spotted a skein of delicious silk merino in watercolour pinks, blues and purples. Whilst it might do a pair of delicate socks, I was taken by her sample ishbel shawl done in that yarn and think i might just do the same!

My last yarn purchase was another Zauberball, now being sold here in Melbourne. I picked my first one up in Austria, but have seen a gorgeous striped pair of socks using two of these balls and wanted to do the same, so when i heard they would be available at the show (for $4 less than retail too!) I had to look. I picked up one in pinks and purples – i just have to make sure the blackish parts of the two balls don’t line up!

Otherwise the majority of my hard earned (lol) money was spent on a joint house project. Stealing the idea directly from penelope waits, I suggested to the HoW (housemate of win as she will now be known) that we should decorate one of our blank cream walls with awesome fabric in embroidery hoops. She just happened to HAVE some vintage wooden embroidery hoops, so we took the opportunity of the Stitches and Craft show to choose some fabrics. Between the lovely ladies at Spindle and Ink, Pepperberry and Co, Pippijoe and Earthgirl Fabrics, we came up with this.